As someone who defines herself as a traveler and whose life is built around this pursuit, 2020 knocked me for a loop. First an artist’s residency in an Irish cottage set upon a windy cliff was postponed to 2022, and many months of international shoots evaporated in a matter of days. In the scheme of things, I knew I was lucky.

When I arrived in Livingstone, Zambia to join African Spokes, Jen Gurecki gleefully warned that I should be prepared to be “the most disgusting version of myself.” An organizer and veteran of the 70 day trip, riding from Nairobi to Cape Town, she was on to something.

Camping outside for 2 weeks, we got into a routine, and the midst of wildlife, all a big part of being in Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

Chobe National Park in Botswana is famed for its abundant wildlife, best seen from a water safari, and is an amazing region where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe all come together along the mighty Zambezi River - the only intersection of four countries in the world.  This is one of many areas I hope to return to, and travel west across the Caprivi region of Namibia.

Days were measured in kilometers traveled, and wildlife spotted, and the butt pain meter. But most exciting was this day, and the 14 elephant day, including many babies, almost white from the salt pans.  When we passed most they raised their trunks in unison, trying to figure out what we were, bicycles not being very familiar.  For this reason we rode in packs when in elephant territory.

I have arrived in Livingston Zambia a few days before I am set to join Leg 4 of the 6 Leg cycling expedition called African Spokes.  The trip runs half the length of Africa, from Nairobi Kenya to Cape Town South Africa, crossing through 7 countries and over 6500 km in 68 days of riding on a range of road conditions you might expect in, well Africa.  Participants from around the world are joining in a leg or 2, and 6 hardly souls are riding the full 3 months.  I was still training indoors while the snow fell outside my home in Boston when the first group of riders set out towards the Masai Steppes in March, and the group will arrive in Cape Town in late May. 

On a ride in upstate New York two collies sitting in the seat of a tractor caught my attention and I stopped to meet the pups, Massey and Fergie-named for the tractor they sat in, and their owner Richard, who invited me back to see the maple syrup making process.